Mary Hamilton

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Word is to the kitchen gone, and word is to the hall,
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And word is up to Madam the Queen
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And that is the worst of all.
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That Mary Hamilton has borne a babe, to the highest Stuart of all.


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"Arise, arise Mary Hamilton, arise and tell to me,
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What thou hast done with thy wee babe I saw and heard weep by thee?"


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"I put him in a tiny boat, and cast him out to sea,
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That he might sink or he might swim, but he'd never come back to me."


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"Arise, arise Mary Hamilton, arise and come with me;
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There is a wedding in Glasgow town, this night we'll go and see."


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She put not on her robes of black, nor her robes of brown.
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But she put on her robes of white, to ride into Glasgow town.


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And as she rode into Glasgow town the city for to see,
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The bailiff's wife and the provost's wife cried "ach and alas for thee."


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"Ah you need not weep for me," she cried,"you need not weep for me.
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For had I not slain my own wee babe this night I would not die."


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Ah little did my mother think when first she cradled me,
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The lands I was to travel in and the death I was to die."


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Last night I washed the Queen's feet and put the gold in her hair,
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And the only reward I find for this is the gallows to be my share."


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"Cast off, cast off my gown," she cried,"but let my petticoat be,
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And tie a napkin 'round my face; the gallows I would not see."


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Then by and come the King himself, looked up with a pitiful eye,
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"Come down, come down Mary Hamilton, tonight, you will dine with me."


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"Ah hold your tongue, my sovereign liege, and let your folly be;
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For if you'd a mind to save my life, you'd never have shamed me here.


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Last night there were four Marys, tonight there'll be but three.
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There was Mary Beaton and Mary Seaton and Mary Carmichael and me."